I’ve heard people ask "Why do we still need a Desert AIDS Walk? Isn’t the epidemic over?" That started me thinking about why, every year, I walk the AIDS Walk. Here are some of the reasons I’m walking again on Oct. 20:

1. HIV Testing: In 2017, Desert AIDS Project found 31 people in the Coachella Valley who did not know they had HIV and linked them to lifesaving care.

3. PrEP works: PrEP is available and one pill a day will stop you from getting infected with HIV.

4. New Infections: Gay men continue to be the highest group with new HIV infections, with black and Latinx men in our region most affected.

5. Transgender health: Our transgender friends are impacted by HIV more than almost any other group, suffering from stigma and discrimination and struggling to find quality medical clinicians to serve them.

6. Fight stigma: Somebody has to meet our communities where they are, be real about life, and provide non-judgmental education and services.

7. HIV isn’t over: The HIV epidemic isn’t over but the end is in sight if we keep up the effort.

8. Still committed: D.A.P. and all who support the Desert AIDS Walk show our shared commitment has not wavered.

9. Epidemiology: If you stop the effort to end an epidemic so close to the finish line, it will explode again.

10. Aging with HIV: People living with HIV are living longer but coping with age-related complications and illnesses earlier. They need critical services and support.

11. Recovery community: Substances like crystal meth are too common in our community and spur HIV's spread. Critical services are needed to help people stop using and stay healthy.

12. Don’t stop now: You don’t run a race and quit just before the finish line.

13. New risk groups: We're seeing higher rates of new infections in the Coachella Valley among gay seniors and latinx gay males under 30.

14. PrEP education and access: Too many people still don’t know about PreEP.

15. Educating medical providers: Some medical clinicians in our region don’t want to talk to patients about HIV, sexual history, or about PrEP. D.A.P. built a critical program to educate area doctors that's working.

16. No judgments: There are medical clinicians who remain judgmental and negatively biased about HIV care and prevention. D.A.P. needs to offer our community supportive and comprehensive services.

17. Access to care: For someone living with HIV, obtaining medical coverage for doctor visits, labs and prescriptions is often too complicated. That’s why D.A.P. provides services to help people get covered and stay covered.

18. We remember: I am old enough to remember when I watched people die, and had to go into people’s houses to clean and do basic chores when they couldn’t walk or get out of bed. Because we are close to bringing the end to this epidemic, continuing to remember those we lost, and saying “Never Again.”

19. HIV awareness: There is a whole generation of young people who came up not knowing the horror of watching loved ones die, and because I don’t want to see them live with a virus that could have been prevented with multiple strategies.

20. Community: This is my family, my community, my people. I re-dedicate myself each and every Desert AIDS Walk to fight to end new HIV infections and to keep HIV positive people healthy.

I invite everyone to register for the 2018 Desert AIDS Walk at www.DesertAIDSWalk.org and walk for any one of these reasons to make a personal impact.

Bruce Weiss(Photo11: Mark Davidson, Mark Davidson)

Email Bruce Weiss, director of community health at Desert AIDS Project, at info@desertaidsproject.org.